Members of the public are being urged to stop using CCTV cameras to film their neighbours

Fears of excessive state surveillance are commonplace. But it seems the real spies could be closer to home – the neighbours.

Members of the public have been urged to stop using CCTV to film those living next door after a surge in complaints.

Tony Porter, the Surveillance Camera Commissioner, appealed to people’s ‘common decency’, saying victims feel their privacy is being invaded by lenses peering into their house or garden.

But the watchdog added that complaining to the police is often pointless because there is no law against installing CCTV on private property.

The price of security cameras has plummeted in recent years, with many homeowners buying them cheaply over the internet.

However, Mr Porter said anyone thinking about putting one up should ask themselves whether they really need it.

The former senior counter-terrorism officer told the Daily Mail that complaints were on the rise, adding: ‘I’ve got a great deal of sympathy for anybody who feels that their own private space is being invaded by the use of a CCTV camera employed by a neighbour.

‘I can understand how invasive that feels. As far as I’m aware, the police have been involved on many occasions and the response has been “sorry, there’s not a lot we can do”.’

Mr Porter, who was appointed in February, is drawing up official guidelines for those installing domestic cameras.

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They will be asked a series of questions about why they want them and if they are really needed. The code of conduct will also ask them to consider the impact on their neighbours’ privacy.

‘You could say it’s part of the code but you could also say it’s common decency,’ said Mr Porter. ‘If there’s absolutely no requirement to impact on other people’s privacy then, frankly, you shouldn’t – it’s wrong.’

Police do have the option of using harassment laws against CCTV owners, he said, but the legal bar is high. As a last resort, members of the public can go to court to claim invasion of privacy but that is complicated and expensive.

The price of security cameras has plummeted in recent years, with many homeowners buying them cheaply over the internet

Mr Porter also acknowledged that the use by police of automatic number plate cameras – which record the journeys of tens of millions of motorists every day – amounted to a ‘large data grab’ of information on innocent people.

The devices log all vehicles that go past and capture pictures of their licence plates, along with details of where they were and at what time. These are then placed on a national database. Police say the ANPR system is an essential crime-fighting tool, but civil liberties campaigners consider it ‘extremely intrusive’.

Mr Porter said he recognised the concern that ‘there are large numbers of cameras and the public don’t know where they sit’.